Motorstorm Evolution Studios intervju

[UrgeLoL]

How important was it to include motion-sensitive controls in MotorStorm?

[From: Daniel Rouse]

 

Scott Kirkland: When we took delivery of our first motion-sensing controllers, we’d already spent a lot of time tuning our handling model to the traditional input system. We had to find a way to exploit the new functionality without dramatically changing MotorStorm’s intense game experience. The solution we eventually settled on provided players with an opportunity to experience the Sixaxis without physically exhausting them. We’ll be building on this with future products.

 

My question for Evolution Studios relates to the 'Performance Analyser' used in PSone and PS2 game development, and if a similar device is being/will be used in PS3 game development?

[From: Charlie Benjamin]

 

Simon Benson: Yes, we have had PS3 performance tools for a while now – much earlier than we ever had on PS2. They have proved very useful and helped no end with getting up to speed with PS3 performance.

 

Is Evolution planning additional GFX optimizations/tweaks for the US/PAL versions of MotorStorm? Although there are only a few months till its US/PAL release, what Evolution showed during the last eight weeks of development time on the Japanese release proved that there was still be time to make pretty big enhancements.

[From: Anthony N Putson]

 

Matt Southern: There will be enhancements, but many will be ‘under the hood’. A lot of the changes for the US and Europe are legal or even cultural – things like the gestures are specific to each territory and their respective age rating guidelines.

 

SK: Development effort between Japanese and US/European releases has been focused primarily on the provision MotorStorm’s online mode. By targeting the Japanese and US (demo) versions of MotorStorm first, we had to tackle performance issues up front, in contrast with the WRC series on PlayStation 2 where we delivered PAL versions first and then squeezed a further 20% performance to hit 60Hz.

 

Do you think the increasing cost of development will lead to fewer but better games or only to safer bets?

[From: -sigge-]

 

MS: I think the question rings true in terms of ‘traditional’ game markets, but everyone knows that these are precisely the markets we need to expand on. Things like the Wii and interactive TV, and games like SingStar, Flow and Blast Factor all suggest that as an industry we’re diversifying beyond the AAA hit-driven model.

 

Nigel Kershaw: I can only speak in terms of Evolution, but we see the ‘safe bets’ as being the riskier path; higher budgets mean that developers cannot just rest on their laurels to produce shovelware – each title has to stand on its own as a grade-A game, and there is no room for runners up!

 

MotorStorm came out in Japan sans online play, still gaining high scores. However, were you truly comfortable releasing a – not sure how to put this – ‘not quite finished’ product?

[From: Basil Brush]

 

MS: We chatted a lot with Yasuhiro, our Japanese external producer, and in the end decided that online would be fine to arrive later. It’s a cultural thing, really, which we had to learn from Yasu-san. The Japanese are used to new iterations of a game at a later stage, and are also less bothered by online multiplayer. The scores seem to have justified our decision.

 

SB: Sony Japan were happy to have a totally offline game as the singleplayer experience is so good. In the US, though, online is a much bigger deal, so they wanted to ensure that their version included online play. But as PS3 games continue to grow ‘beyond the box’ via downloadable content, every game is ‘not quite finished’, so expect more as time goes on.

 

In MotorStorm, will there be voice chat during the online races?

[From: Toby K Lee]

 

MS: Yes, using either USB headsets or Bluetooth wireless sets. Currently we have 12-player; recently we had 15 but we’ve had to cull this. We’re still hoping for 16 but we can’t commit to that right now.

 

SK: I think the ability to taunt and react to your opponents is an essential feature of the game.

 

SB: Yes – this has proven very popular in the office so far, although it does tend to build rivalries when combined with the in-game taunting and offensive gestures.

 

Does Evolution have any plans (even at this late stage) to implement any split-screen options in the US/PAL versions of MotorStorm?

[From: Anthony N Putson]

 

MS: Rally Evolved dropped split-screen and we’ll probably leave it that way for MotorStorm unless we get an overwhelming demand. Splitting all that high-def detail into two is a performance nightmare. However, the beauty of online consoles is that the game can change in the future and we can sit down with SCEE and say, ‘Let’s offer this for download – the fans want it’.

 

SK: Split-screen racing requires compromised visual/aural fidelity to accommodate multiple simultaneous views of the environment. For our PlayStation 3 debut, we elected to spend our entire processing/rendering budget on a single view, relying on the more compelling online experience to provide multiplayer thrills...

 

To what extent is a console maker (in this case, Sony) involved with the development process of one of its launch titles?

[From: Angele Djimani]

 

MS: This is a difficult question because in this instance SCEE are the publisher and own the MotorStorm IP as well as being the platform holder. They are massively involved on the production side – at a guess I’d say this involved a dozen phone calls a day and even more emails.

 

NK: Sony were heavily involved in all steps along the path to MotorStorm, as they pay the bills, but ultimately it was a creation of Evolution Studios.

 

SB: Sony have been great during the development. They have worked closely with us all the way through the project and have provided very good technical and logistical support too. But one of the biggest plus points is that they have also had the courage to allow us creative control of the project.

 

Many of the most impressive PS2 titles were not seen until years after launch. How far do you think we are from seeing what the PS3 is really capable of, and how has the acclimatisation to PS3 been during the development of MotorStorm?

[From: mr_shoe_uk]

 

MS: It’s been tough, we’re happy to admit that. The major impediment was literally the lack of any solid hardware in the early days. It’s good to be past that dilemma. Our last series of games (WRC) showed a huge gulf from 1 to 5 in terms of graphical quality.

 

NK: We are still just learning the ropes with the PS3, and there are still plenty of tricks to be learned. Yes, we are pushing the performance of the PS3 to the max, but you can look at our track record with WRC1, where we were pushing the performance to the max, and then compare it to WRC5, which was in a whole different league in terms of visual and performance quality. We didn’t magically find any more performance in the five years between these titles; we just learned what made the PS2 tick, and how to use it efficiently. You can expect just this sort of progression with the PS3; the more we write for it, the more we will learn about its inner workings.

 

With so much space available on a Blu-ray disc, is there a temptation to fill it up by not compressing assets you normally would on a DVD?

[From: ohms]

 

MS: The key here is HD. Compression is one thing but the sheer size of top-quality high definition data necessitates something like Blu-ray. Have a look at the ‘Extras’ section of the game when you get hold of it to see what I mean.

 

SK: There wasn’t a temptation at all. Compressed assets load (and decompress) more quickly than their uncompressed counterparts. With Blu-ray the emphasis is on creating an incredibly rich experience for the end-user with complex models, high-resolution textures, high-quality audio and high-definition video footage.

 

MotorStorm looks like a very visceral game. Were you disappointed when it became clear that PS3’s controllers would not have a rumble feature?

[From: mr_shoe_uk]

 

NK: Not really. Rumble has had its uses in the previous generation of games, to give the player cues in certain situations. Now that we’re able to give the cues in many other ways, with both visual and audio, there is a much reduced need to produce a rumble in your hands.

 

SB: We didn’t miss the rumble feature really because we were heavily influenced by film in the making of MotorStorm and it has been proven many times over that you can achieve immersion without rumble. When did you last need to be shaken around to enjoy a film? OK, maybe to wake you up while watching The English Patient…

 

The crashes in MotorStorm are spectacular, and it would be great to be able to activate a replay during the game that shows the previous 15 seconds or so, with full camera controls. Is there any chance of this happening in the European version? Similarly, is there any chance of getting to watch a replay after the race is completed, instead of just watching the vehicles just driving?

[From: Toby K Lee]

 

MS: Not for the boxed launch, but as ever we’ll see what is being demanded by fans when we start to offer download packs. Remember, we were up against it with MotorStorm, even with the timescale we had. The ability to pause and rotate the camera was added really late – it was classic feature creep.

 

SB: At any point in the game, the player can pause the game and then look around the scene by moving the camera around and zooming in and out. (We have nothing to hide.) We intend to make more use of this feature in the future – watch this space…

 

I want to know what's happening with the WRC series: will it be coming to the PS3? If news is scarce, when could we expect some news?

[From: Anders Leonhard]

 

MS: This is more a question for an ‘Ask the publisher’ session! For some time we didn’t admit it publicly, but the truth is that we have not done any WRC work since Rally Evolved shipped. SCEE and ISC (the rights holders) are still having executive conversations, but the licence expired last year and the future of the WRC franchise is anyone’s guess. It doesn’t help that the sport recently lost several key car manufacturers.

 

Since you’ve already developed the WRC series, it's really easy to understand your move in creating an off-road racing game, but the nitros and crashes remind me a lot of Burnout. Were you inspired by Criterion’s game (or any other game for that matter) or did you believe it was just a natural evolution?

[From João Pedro]

 

MS: It really was natural. We’re certainly inspired by other games and there are many Burnout fans here, but the more ‘arcade’ elements that you describe were inspired more from a sense of liberation after working on a simulation-driven licensed game. Our inspirations come from quite a broad range, not just videogames. For example, Martin (our CEO), who drove the high-level vision for MotorStorm, is hugely motivated by SFX movies, TV comedies and real sports.

 

SB: It mainly comes from not being allowed to do it for the last five years due to the WRC license restrictions – we built up a lot of desire to smash vehicles together and watch them shatter, run over people and burn things – all of which makes MotorStorm the crash-fest that it is today. Thank god we’ve been able to get that out of our systems.

 

SK: Burnout? I’m not familiar with that title. Is it some kind of pyromaniac game?

 

Do you wish that you were releasing your game further on in the PS3’s life cycle? Do you feel that because you have a ‘launch title’ you are likely to be judged more harshly by the media?

[From: Richard Simpson]

 

MS: It depends what kind of media. I think the specialist press appreciate that a launch title is an unusual thing, one that showcases the new technology but is often a little ‘light’ in terms of depth or content, and they are often quite forgiving of this. More mainstream press can be quite naïve or oblivious to these issues. That said, with MotorStorm we’re very proud of the depth of gameplay we’ve managed to achieve, and are proud to put ourselves alongside some killer launch titles from the past. Being a launch title has – eventually – been a really positive thing for us.

 

NK: It’s exciting to work on a launch title, and a good time to establish a new gaming franchise such as MotorStorm, as the marketplace isn’t crowded with hundreds of titles. It also gives us a jump start with getting to grips with the Playstation 3; while others are releasing their first PS3 title, we’ll be well underway with our second.

 

SB: Making a launch title has been one hell of an experience and not an opportunity that comes around that often, particularly to launch a new IP too. I recommend that everyone should do it at least once, but then make an informed choice as to whether they will do it again! I certainly agree that MotorStorm has had a lot of media attention. It’s had public outings during development, but that actually helped as we’ve been consistently reviewed while we’ve had time to make changes, so this makes it easier to make a game that people really want and not just a game that ‘we’ really want to make.

 

Kilde

[UrgeLoL]

*Det blir altså voice chat i multiplayer.

 

*De har fått til 12 stykk multiplayer, men vil prøve å få til 16 stykk.

 

*De lar ikke være å komprimere data fordi dette vil gjøre at laste tidene blir lengre.

 

*De fikk Ps3 perfomance tools mye tidligere enn de gjorde med ps2, og de er fornøyde med verktøyene.

[KayAU]

* Det blir neppe nokon split-screen-modus. :-/

 

Kay

[boundishh]

split-screen er jo det som er fett

[tidus2k4]

har alltid synes split screen er helt retarted

 

greit at det er morro og sitte flere i samme rom og spille, men det er kjipt med en tv delt i 2, eller 4. Online drepte split screen.

[UrgeLoL]

Nå skriver dem da at hvis kundene vil ha det så kan de legge det til senere Men for meg er det akkurat det samme, da mange kompiser vil kjøpe seg ps3. Så det blir nok online for min del.

[Mala]

Split-screen var noe som fallt i smak hos meg tilbake i N64-eraen, GoldenEye,MArio Kart og Perfect Dark mfl. sørget for det:P

[KayAU]

har alltid synes split screen er helt retarted

 

greit at det er morro og sitte flere i samme rom og spille, men det er kjipt med en tv delt i 2, eller 4. Online drepte split screen.

7711740[/snapback]

Du må hugse at der er ein del fleire av både tommar og skjermpunkt i denne generasjonen. Eg er einig med fanboy, det er splitscreen som er tøft. Eg vil ha noko eg kan spele når eg har besøk. Å site saman med ein kamerat og spele slår å site åleine og konkurrere med 11 vilt framande fjortisar for min del.

 

At online drepte splitscreen gjer meg berre sint på online. Men eg er redd der er noko i det. I dag ser det ut til at det anten er einspelar, online, eller "party". Gode gamle "Press 2P Start!" ser ut til å vere historie.

 

 

@Mgs:

Ein påklatta 2-spelarmodus dersom dei får overveldande mange forespørslar er ei relativt fattig trøst.

 

Kay

[boundishh]

spilt-screen er i allefall mer sosialt om ikke annet

[_KroSjefen_]

MotorStorm looks like a very visceral game. Were you disappointed when it became clear that PS3’s controllers would not have a rumble feature?

[From: mr_shoe_uk]

 

NK: Not really. Rumble has had its uses in the previous generation of games, to give the player cues in certain situations. Now that we’re able to give the cues in many other ways, with both visual and audio, there is a much reduced need to produce a rumble in your hands.

 

SB: We didn’t miss the rumble feature really because we were heavily influenced by film in the making of MotorStorm and it has been proven many times over that you can achieve immersion without rumble. When did you last need to be shaken around to enjoy a film? OK, maybe to wake you up while watching The English Patient…

 

 

jaggu sammenligner han en film med et tv spill, sist eg sjekket så er det lite interaktivitet i en film..kan ikkje huske og ha styrt tom cruise rundt på skjermen i M:i3...sony forsvarer fjerningen av rumble med att input er bedre enn feedback...hvordan i svarte ska du kunne gji noke input når du ikkje får nokro respons fra spillet om att no må du bremse,,svinge..løpe..skyte...osv...heilt på tryne spørr du meg..

[lonnj89]

spilt-screen er i allefall mer sosialt  om ikke annet

7713105[/snapback]

 

yup, og split screen online mot venner som også sitter på split screen er fennomenalt

Selvfølgelig med mic!